A complaint filed on Monday in US District Court in
California alleges that some investors purchased Tesla
stock "at artificially inflated prices and suffered significant
losses and damages once the truth emerged" that Musk had not
secured the funding necessary to convert Tesla into a private
company for $420 per share, as he said on August 7.

Tesla declined Business Insider's request for
comment.

Tesla is facing another lawsuit accusing CEO Elon Musk of
manipulating the company's stock price. The suit follows two
lawsuits filed against the company last week by investors
alleging securities fraud.

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A complaint filed on Monday in US District Court in California
alleges that some investors purchased Tesla stock "at
artificially inflated prices and suffered significant losses and
damages once the truth emerged" that Musk had not secured the
funding necessary to convert Tesla into a private company for
$420 per share, as he
said on August 7.

"Investor support is confirmed. Only reason why this is not
certain is that it's contingent on a shareholder vote," he later
said.

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Tesla's
share price surged after Musk's first tweet, rising by as
much as 12%, to over $381, before settling at $379.57 when
trading closed on August 7. But by the end of trading on August
9, it had fallen to $352.45 as reports emerged that the
Securities and Exchange Commission
made an inquiry into Tesla about whether one of Musk's tweets
regarding the possibility of taking the company private was
truthful.

According to the lawsuit, "Musk's tweets were an
ill-conceived attempt to manipulate the stock price of Tesla
upward in order to burn investors who had sold Tesla stock
short," and, "had the desired effect of creating a massive
one-day increase in the price of Tesla stock and causing short
sellers large losses."

Tesla declined Business Insider's request for comment.

On Monday, Musk said
in a statement that he used the phrase "funding secured"
because he believed there was "no question" Saudi Arabia's Public
Investment Fund would provide funding for a deal to convert Tesla
into a private company after a July 31 meeting with the fund's
managing director.

But Musk didn't mention any legally-binding agreements that
were in place at the time he sent the August 7 tweet and said he
was in discussions with the Saudi fund and other investors, which
suggested some sources of funding were not be settled before the
tweet was sent.